The First Leg Of The Tri-Holiday Classic Series Produced Some Great On-Track Battles
On Memorial Day Weekend5/29/12 - By David Holman / Stockton 99 Media Relations

On Saturday, May 26th, Stockton 99 Speedway hosted the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Tri-Holiday Classic Series Race #1 Presented by Financial Center Credit Union, which featured the Western Late Model 100, Modified 60, Super Stock 60, Bombers 50 and Basically-4-Cylinders in a 40 lap romp of their own. Fortunately, 3000 fans filled the stands for this special Event and all most likely went away with a piece of what they came for, because the racing was fierce!

We’ve traveled many miles away from the Civil War and we have lost many good Americans then, and in all Wars since. This day was a great day to come together in honor of all our fallen heroes. And what better way to spend it than to have a choice to spend it in whatever fashion quenches our desires. Whether it be racing or any other freedom we possess, we owe our freedoms to those brave Americans who gave their all to allow us to make the choices we make, and we thank them and remember them!

The Basically-4-Cylinders were up first to get the night moving along. And, despite hanging back for the first couple laps, when 2011 Division Champion from Manteca, Joseph Reichmuth (6), decided it was time to go, that’s exactly what he did and he took no prisoners along the way in capturing his second win of the young Season.

Manteca’s Brad Mast (69) grabbed P1 honors, while French Camp’s Mark Jacke (5-0) took up the number two spot to get the show rolling. And, with the green flag flying high above the tricky surface, Jacke motored off into turn one with the immediate lead. Unfortunately for Jacke, on lap 7, Stockton’s own, Shannon Rumsey (59), spun coming off turn four and careened hard into the outside wall collecting a couple cars in her wake just beneath the flagstand and the first yellow went flying. Rumsey was checked at the Infield Care Center and released. Her ride, however, did not bode so well and the #59 could not answer the bell on the restart. And, on the ensuing restart, Joseph Reichmuth (6), as he often does, got to the gas a foot quicker than did the rest of the field and he began to chew away at the hot asphalt, in large chunks, until finally, there was nothing left to do but slide below the checkers for his second win on the Season. Jacke and Nick Rogers (51) of Manteca finished the race second and third, respectively, but upon further review during post-race tech, the Racing God of Too Much Creative Engineering came down and took a huge bite out of both driver’s nights, which moved the entire field up two spots. So, as luck would have it, Brad Mast inherited second and the #11X of Justin Terry happily accepted third. Modesto’s Jennifer Corder (24), after being swept up in the lap 7 melee, made a marvelous recovery in coming back to finish fourth. Manteca’s “Firecracker” Matt Anderson, after major problems of his own, rounded out the top five.

The brutal Bombers roared onto the high banks once again, and this time out, Stockton’s Rodney Tripp (008), masterfully survived the massive carnage in this one to bring home his first win of the year.

Two Stockton drivers, Mike Massone (007) and Guido Bindi (016) were strapped in tight to the front row to get this battle royal underway with Bindi winning the bid for the early lead as he drove it off high and deep into turn one. Unfortunately for Bindi, he had to endure several caution periods during his venture out front and the incessant nibbling and gnawing at his rear bumper from the likes of Rodney Tripp. Finally, on lap 22, Bindi had no choice but to relent to the pressure as his car simply went away, and Tripp dove low through three and came out on the other side with the much sought-after lead. Once out in that rarified air, and despite two more cautions (one that wiped out half the field), Tripp would drink in the history of the storied venue where he would go completely unchallenged to the Glory Land as he slipped beneath the checkers a half-track ahead of his nearest competitor for his first win of the year in an extremely tough Division. Stockton’s Darin Alder (360), after an earlier altercation that sent him reeling to the back of the pack, rebounded beautifully to finish on the podium in an impressive second. Tyler Guzman (93X) of Ceres, caught up in the earlier multi-car incident, brought her back in his usual manner to finish on the podium in third. Bindi, after leading the first half of the race, slipped back only slightly to finish fourth, while Massone brought her home with a fifth place run.

The Super Stocks didn’t have much luck with car-count, but that didn’t take away any of the excitement, when Stockton’s own, “Rompin” Rich Harper (5), produced an unbelievable move for the lead and took it to the field for his second win on the Season.

Stockton’s Travis Tucker (53) of the infamous Tucker Clan was bequeathed P1 from the invert, but Tucker opted to start shotgun due to an ill-handling car, which moved 2011 Track Champion from Hughson, Mike Graham (93), to the point to get this one up to speed. Riverside’s Aaron Coonfield (25) flanked the #93 high and tight to the right. And with the drop of the green, Graham grabbed a huge hunk of forward bite coming off turn four, which vaulted the #93 into the immediate lead. As fate would have it, the race was slowed on lap 4, when Lodi’s Robbie “The Kid” Knittel (03) drove it off deep into turn three. But much to Knittel’s chagrin, Aaron Coonfield was there and the two made contact drawing two other cars into the fracas and bringing along for the ride the first yellow of the race. Not to be outdone, on lap 7, Tucker looped it up the track in turn four and appeared to have a little help on that one, but to no avail, no one was cited. On the restart, Graham had it by a nose at the line over Harper, but Harper did not relent and performed a gorgeous move to split two cars, then jumped out to the lead on lap 9. From that point forward, Harper would bask in the spotlight on that much-coveted real estate out front and he never looked back as he took it to the checkers for his second win on the year. Graham held on to another strong run on the podium in second, while Knittel, after the earlier mishap, reestablished himself in the top three with a podium finish in third. Atwater’s Jason Aguirre (45), quiet all race long, came home in fourth with Coonfield rounding out the Top Five.

The Modifieds were back on Docket and quite a field showed up for this controversial race. When all the dust had settled, Jay Linstroth (25) of Citrus Heights would stand the tallest on the podium with his first win of the year.

Keegan Walmer (98K) of Portland, OR nabbed pole honors with Jay Linstroth alongside and eager to get this one underway. With the green flag wrinkled high against the background of evening, Linstroth got to the gas one-thirty-second of an inch sooner than did the #98K of Walmer, and by doing so, Linstroth, as he has done on so many occasions here, jetted out to the early lead, where he appeared to have the handle fully gripped in his ample hands until lap 16, when Modified Superstar from Tracy, Scott Winters (24), gnawed a little too deeply into the back bumper of 2011 Division Champ from Turlock, Wes Miller (57), sending Miller into a loop, low out of turn two and brought with it the first yellow of the race. Both drivers were asked to take up new residence at the tail-end of the field for their involvement. On the lap 16 restart, Linstroth assumed his position until lap 18, when the “Ripon Rocket” Mike Regelman (63) made an absolutely beautiful move, low through three and four, then slid up in front of Linstroth for the lead. Regelman, once out in the breathable air, began to tip-toe away from the field in a matter-of-fact manner until lap 37, when Charlotte, NC’s David Crouch (2) and Miller’s #57 touched tires down the frontstretch, which sent Miller sideways, high into the turn one wall. Astonishingly, Miller would soldier on as would Crouch. On the lap 38 restart, Regelman and Linstroth made heavy contact down the frontstretch with Regelman getting the worst of it by landing backwards on the inside wall at the turn one pit entrance and the fourth yellow was sent flying high over the tight racing surface. For his part in the mishap, Regelman was relegated to the tail-end of the longest line. On the restart, Linstroth jumped out quickly and from that point forward, he would never be headed as he took it through to the checkers for his first win of the year. Winter’s, after the early misfortune, miraculously worked his way back to the podium in second. Rio Linda’s Rich Lindgren (45) was quietly aggressive all night and at the end, he landed a solid run onto the podium in third. Miller, after the big collision earlier, somehow found a way to rebound to a fourth place finish. Rick Anderson (83A) of Citrus Heights, driving for good friend Donny Lehman, did a fantastic job rounding out the top five.

The Western Late Model Division sported some good numbers on the grid. When the checkers finally fell one hundred laps later, a newcomer to the Speedway, Roseville’s Chris Scribner (5), found his way to the promised land his first time out.

Modesto’s Todd Corral (16) and Stanislov Osterlund (42) of Los Gatos paced the large field around to greet the green, but before the field could get around to lap 1, the Racing God of Misfortune cast down his evil eye upon turn two, and the race was instantly minus some great race cars, including, but not limited to, third generation driver and 2009 Track Champion, Tracy’s own Justin Philpot (05), whose racer was no longer able to compete. So, as the story went, Corral and Osterlund brought the field under green with Corral getting the great jump and the holeshot off into turn one for the very aggressive lead. Over the next fifty circuits, Corral held tight to that lead, despite the constant shadowing of his every move by Chris Scribner and a few others as the top four were mostly nose to tail for the duration until lap 51, when Modesto’s 2011 Division Champion and second generation driver, Jeff Belletto (12X) came to rest at the turn one pit entrance, which brought with it the one and only caution period of the race and Belletto’s night to an unfortunate end. On the restart, Scribner got the great jump on the outside and coming back around to the stripe, the #5 edged out Corral for the lead. Once Scribner got a taste of that pristine air out at P1, he became completely enthralled in the gravity of the moment and he held on tight, despite the constant bickering at his back bumper by Osterlund, and took it to the house for the upset Victory his first time out at the Speedway. Osterlund, still picking pieces of bumper and paint from his teeth, crossed the line just behind the leader for the absolutely brilliant second place run. Corral, after leading over half the race, got the handle back just enough to put it on the podium in third. Cupertino’s Luis Tyrell (21), in his rookie Season in a Late Model, had a spectacular run finishing fourth, while Seaside’s Legendary (on many levels) Dave Byrd (92), starting very deep on the grid, worked his way, as he quietly does, to a top five finish in fifth.

Next Saturday, June 2nd, the NASCAR Whelen All American Series returns and features: Western Late Model in Twin 50’s, NCMA Sprint Cars, Vintage Hard Tops,
USAC Ford Focus Midget in Twins of their own and 199 Lap Enduro (Enduro Series Race #1).

The New Stockton 99 Speedway is located at 4105 N. Wilson Way, ¼-mile west of Highway 99. For more information on tickets and times, please contact the Speedway Office at (209)466-9999 or visit their Website at www.stockton99.com.